Shameless Pets Cat Treats Review

Kate Barrington / Cats.com

We’ve rated Shameless Pets cat treats on ingredient quality, species-appropriateness, recalls, and more. Read our Shameless cat food review to learn how this brand stacks up.

The Cats.com Standard—Rating Shameless Cat Treats On What Matters

We’ve rated the brand on six key criteria for quality. Here’s how it rates in each of these six crucial areas.

In total, we give Shameless Pets treats a 44 out of 60 rating or a B grade.

About Shameless Pets

Mouth-watering aromas and irresistible flavors are what makes a cat treat popular with cats, but cat parents have slightly different standards. Shameless Pets exists for the pet parents who care about the environment while still wanting what’s best for their pets.

Shameless has three priorities: sustainability, nutrition, and flavor. Their dog and cat treats are made with surplus and misfit produce, crafted to support a specific health benefit in each recipe.

The story of Shameless Pets began with James as he was working as a corporate food buyer for retail giant Target. Having born witness to the massive amount of food waste from Target stores alone, he set out on a mission to rescue some of those unused (but still perfectly usable) ingredients to turn them into healthy pet treats.

James partnered with food scientist Alex after meeting at a startup event and together the pair launched Shameless Pets in October 2018. The brand is now partnered with major retailers nationwide.

Sourcing And Manufacturing

While Shameless Pets treats are similar in appearance to popular brands like Temptations and Friskies, their ingredients lists couldn’t be more dissimilar.

Shameless Pets is founded on a platform of upcycling. They rescue and transform misfit and surplus produce – the food that goes unsold in stores either because it isn’t pretty enough or simply not needed – and turn it into nutritious pet treats.

Shameless makes every effort to work with North American suppliers, working to creative sustainable pet food solutions. Every upcycled ingredient is put through various protocols and testing to ensure quality before being used in Shameless Pets treats.

On the Shameless website, you can view a U.S. map that tells you exactly where their produce partners are located. You can even view a chart detailing how many pounds of each upcycled ingredient they’ve rescued to date.

Shameless is dedicated to minimizing their impact on the plant in ways other than upcycling many of the ingredients in their recipes. In 2020, their packaging was updated to a formula that includes 25% post-consumer recyclable plastic bottles and milk jugs. Plus, 80% of their product line is made with solar energy.

All Shameless Pets cat treats are made in the USA.

Recall History

To our knowledge, Shameless Pets has not had a product recall to date.

What Kinds Of Cat Treats Does Shameless Pets Offer?

Shameless currently offers three different recipes for crunchy cat treats. Each recipe starts with an animal-based protein as the first ingredient and is supplemented with other whole food ingredients to provide supplemental nutrition.

Each Shameless Pets cat treat recipe is designed to support a specific health benefit. Catnip N Chill supports digestive health; More Lobster, Cheese promotes healthy skin and coat; and Yam Good Salmon also supports skin and coat health.

What Do Customers Think Of Shameless Pets?

Kate Barrington / Cats.com

Shameless is still a fairly new brand, so the largest compilations of customer reviews can still be found on the brand’s website and on Amazon. Chewy has only recently started selling Shameless Pets treats, so customer reviews are very limited.

For the most part, pet owners love Shameless (and so do their pets). The brand carries a 4.4 out of 5-star rating on Amazon with over 250 reviews.

Customers say that their cats love the flavor and the crunchy texture while cat owners themselves appreciate the clean ingredients. Even owners of picky cats report that their cats couldn’t get enough of Shameless Pets cat treats.

In terms of negative reviews, some cats simply didn’t seem to like the treats. There didn’t seem to be any significant theme linking the few negative reviews, however, other than the preference of individual cats against the treats.

Let’s take a look at a few reviews from some of the most popular recipes from Shameless Pets.

Positive Reviews

“Initially, we were given a sample bag of Catnip N Chill from a family member. Our cat is not picky – but one way to tell how much she prefers a snack over another is how fast she devours it. This was a winner! I then ordered her the full variety pack. Her favorite of the three appears to be the Lobster. She would eat this as her meals if she could. We have to watch our furball’s weight and these are very low calorie and healthy little snacks to keep her going during the day. They even smell like the food they are made from. I also applaud their sustainable mission. Will continue to purchase these treats.” – Amazon Customer

“My cats are SO picky when it comes to treats. The only kind they would eat, out of the many I have gotten them, is the Friskies brand which is not the healthiest option for their diet. I decided to give these new ones a try because I really support the mission behind the company (to reduce food waste). I was so happy to find out that my cats LOVED the catnip flavored ones.” – Leslie on Amazon.com

Negative Reviews

“My cat didn’t care for these, but you shouldn’t necessarily hold that against them. About a year ago her tastes mysteriously changed, and since then she’s only been willing to eat one brand of food and pretty much nothing else. I offered her some of these treats purely as an experiment, and she wouldn’t touch them until I accidentally let her food bowl go empty. So in her opinion eating these was an improvement over going hungry, but otherwise she’ll have nothing to do with them.” – K. Bunker on Amazon.com

“So far… 2 cats won’t eat it. One likes them well enough that she’s excited to eat about 3 or 4. I’m not sure that they are a fan of sweet potatoes because they definitely like other salmon treats. Or it’s possible these don’t smell strongly enough to entice the older 2 cats.” – Myra on Amazon.com

What Did Our Test Cats Think?

I ordered the variety pack of all three Shameless Cat treats recipes to test them. When I say my cats loved them, it doesn’t quite do these treats justice.

The treats arrived in a recyclable brown paper package, and I made the mistake of leaving them on top of a box near the front door. Later in the day I realized my dog, Archie, hadn’t been annoyingly under foot for a while so I went to find him. He was downstairs with the packaging ripped open, happily gnawing his way through a bag of treats.

Since the bag was open anyway, I took the opportunity to offer a few to my three cats and all of them were eager to oblige. I noticed a strong (but not unpleasant) aroma right away, and so did my cats.

I now have the remainder of that bag in a zippered plastic bag on my desk and my cats come by throughout the day to beg for a treat.

One of my cats, Munchkin, did throw up within an hour of eating the treats the first time but it was an isolated incident. Munchie was perfectly happy to keep snacking on the treats and none of the other cats ever had an issue.

Shameless Pets Cat Treats – Top 3 Recipes Reviewed

#1 Shameless Pets Catnip N Chill Crunchy Cat Treats

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This recipe features fresh chicken as the primary ingredient followed by upcycled sweet potato, brown rice, and tapioca.

There are no wheat, corn, or soy ingredients like you’d find in many inexpensive cat treats, though there are a significant number of plant ingredients. The overall carbohydrate content of this recipe is very high.

This recipe doesn’t contain artificial additives like flavors, colors, and preservatives. Overall, they were a huge hit with my cats and seem to be popular with other customers as well.

Ingredients

Chicken, Sweet Potato*, Brown Rice, Tapioca, Brewers Dried Yeast, Miscanthus Grass, Chicken Fat, Natural Flavor, Inulin, Catnip, Phosphoric Acid, Mixed Tocopherols (A Preservative), Dried Bacillus Coagulans Fermentation Product.

Ingredients We Liked	Ingredients We Didn’t Like	Common Allergens
Chicken Chicken Fat Catnip	Brown Rice Tapioca Brewers Dried Yeast	Chicken

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 18%

Crude Fat: 14.5%

Crude Fiber: 8%

Moisture: 8%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 19.57%

Fat: 15.76%

Fiber: 8.7%

Carbs: 55.98%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 17.19%

Fat: 33.63%

Carbs: 49.18%

Pros

• Animal-based protein as the main ingredient
• No artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives
• Supplemented with probiotics for digestion

Cons

• Contains unnecessary plant ingredients

#2 Shameless Pets Yam Good Salmon Crunchy Cat Treats

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This flavor of Shameless Pets cat treats features salmon as the first ingredient and a single source of animal-based protein.

Like the previous formula, this recipe is packed with carbohydrate ingredients, including the same upcycled sweet potato. Overall, there are no major red flag ingredients but, again, the carbohydrate content is very high.

This formula contains the addition of fish oil to provide omega-3 fatty acids to support your cat’s skin and coat.

Ingredients

Salmon, Sweet Potato*, Brown Rice, Tapioca, Brewers Dried Yeast, Flaxseed Meal, Fish Oil, Natural Flavor, Phosphoric Acid, Mixed Tocopherols.

Ingredients We Liked	Ingredients We Didn’t Like	Common Allergens
Salmon Fish Oil	Brown Rice Tapioca Brewers Dried Yeast Flaxseed Meal	Fish

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 22%

Crude Fat: 10.5%

Crude Fiber: 4.5%

Moisture: 8%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 23.91%

Fat: 11.41%

Fiber: 4.89%

Carbs: 59.78%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 21.46%

Fat: 24.88%

Carbs: 53.66%

Pros

• Whole source of animal protein as first ingredient
• Free from artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives
• Supplemented with fish oil for skin and coat support

Cons

• Contains unnecessary plant ingredients

#3 Shameless Pets More Lobster, Cheese Crunchy Cat Treats

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This is the only Shameless Pet cat treats formula that contains more than one source of animal protein. Fresh tuna is the first ingredient, supplemented with lobster later in the list.

This formula also contains the addition of fish oil to provide omega-3 fatty acids to support your cat’s skin and coat.

Overall, there are no potentially harmful ingredients like artificial additives, but the carb content is still very high thanks to the inclusion of so many plant ingredients.

Ingredients

Tuna, Sweet Potato*, Brown Rice, Tapioca, Lobster*, Brewers Dried Yeast, Flaxseed Meal, Cheese, Kelp, Fish Oil, Natural Flavor, Phosphoric Acid, Mixed Tocohpherols (A Preservative).

Ingredients We Liked	Ingredients We Didn’t Like	Common Allergens
Tuna Lobster Fish Oil	Brown Rice Tapioca Brewers Dried Yeast Flaxseed Meal Cheese	Fish

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 23%

Crude Fat: 12.5%

Crude Fiber: 4.5%

Moisture: 8%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 25%

Fat: 13.59%

Fiber: 4.89%

Carbs: 56.52%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 21.83%

Fat: 28.81%

Carbs: 49.36%

Pros

• Two sources of animal-based protein
• Supplemented with fish oil for skin and coat support
• Free from artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives

Cons

• Contains unnecessary plant ingredients

How Much Do Shameless Pets Treats Cost?

It’s difficult for cat treat brands to compete with monsters like Temptations in terms of price, but Shameless Pets treats are more economically priced than premium brands like Orijen.

On the Shameless Pets website, you’ll pay about $7 for a 2-pack of treats, a total of 5 ounces. This averages to about $3.50 per bag which is on par with the pricing on Amazon, though Chewy prices Shameless Pets about $0.50 higher.

Overall, Are Shameless Pets Treats A Good Choice?

Shameless Pets is certainly one of the more sustainably minded companies we’ve come across and their use of misfit and surplus produce is unique. I appreciate their use of high-quality animal proteins as the first ingredient, but the overall carbohydrate content of all three recipes is very high.

In terms of affordability, Shameless Pet treats are fairly affordable and offer higher quality than cheap brands like Temptations. They’re not the most species-appropriate choice due to the plant ingredients, but they seem to be a hit among even the pickiest cats.

Where Are Shameless Pets Treats Sold?

Shameless Pets treats are sold in retail pet stores around the country. In addition to major pet retailers like Petco, you can find Shameless treats in local and independent pet retail stores as well. Certain specialty groceries like Whole Foods carry Shameless Pets as well.

If you prefer to shop online, you can purchase Shameless Pets treats directly through the website or find them on Amazon. Shameless has also recently started selling their treats on Chewy.